-아/어 보이다 Grammar in Korean: Meaning and How to Use It

What you'll learn

• Make the 아/어 form of any adjective and add 보이다 to say how something looks.
• Say the polite (보여요), past (보였어요) and modifying (보이는) forms.
• Explain why the pattern does not work with action verbs, and name the pattern that does.
• Distinguish -아/어 보이다 from -(으)ㄴ/는 것 같다 and from 보이다 ("be visible") and from 보다 ("try").
• Fix the four most common learner mistakes with the pattern.

Before you start: you should know how to build the polite 요 form of an adjective (polite present tense) and how to find a stem (see verb stem). Audio plays only when you press a button.

What Does -아/어 보이다 Grammar Mean?

-아/어 보이다 grammar means "looks" or "seems": the speaker describes the impression that something gives from the outside. The impression is visual, such as a face, an outfit or a dish. The speaker does not claim to know the fact behind it. A dish may look tasty and still taste bad.

Here are two first examples. The pattern is the same in both, and only the adjective changes.

• 오늘 기분이 좋아 보여요. (oneul gibuni joa boyeoyo.) [오늘 기부니 조아 보여요] = "You look happy today." (Literally, "Your mood looks good today.")
• 그 옷이 비싸 보여요. (geu osi bissa boyeoyo.) [그 오시 비싸 보여요] = "That outfit looks expensive."

In 좋아 보여요, 좋아 is the 아/어 form of the adjective 좋다 (to be good), and 보여요 is the polite form of 보이다 (to look, to be seen). Grammar books call 보이다 here an auxiliary adjective (보조 형용사), which means it follows another word and adds a meaning. The two parts are written as separate words. Next comes the rule that builds the pattern.

How Do You Form -아/어 보이다?

-아/어 보이다 is formed by taking the 아/어 form of an adjective and adding 보이다 as a second word. The 아/어 form is the same form that the polite present tense uses before 요: the polite form 좋아요 minus 요 gives 좋아. Choose 아 after a stem whose last vowel is ㅏ or ㅗ, and 어 after any other vowel. For 하다 adjectives the form is 해.

The table shows one rule on six adjectives. The next three parts look at the groups of stems.

Stems Ending in a Vowel

A vowel stem makes its 아/어 form by adding 아 or 어, or by merging with it. 비싸다 becomes 비싸 (the ㅏ merges with 아), 크다 becomes 커 (ㅡ drops and 어 joins), and 어리다 becomes 어려 (ㅣ and 어 merge into 여). Examples:

• 많이 피곤해 보여요. (mani pigonhae boyeoyo.) [마니 피곤해 보여요] = "You look very tired."
• 어제는 많이 바빠 보였어요. (eojeneun mani bappa boyeosseoyo.) [어제는 마니 바빠 보여써요] = "You looked very busy yesterday."

Vowel stems are the simplest case. A stem with a final consonant adds a separate vowel syllable, and some of them sound different.

Stems Ending in a Consonant

A consonant stem adds 아 or 어 as a new syllable: 좋다 becomes 좋아, 맛있다 becomes 맛있어, and 젊다 becomes 젊어. The sound follows the standard pronunciation rules (표준 발음법) of the 국립국어원 (National Institute of Korean Language). The final consonant moves to the next syllable: 좋아 보여요 is [조아 보여요] because the ㅎ is silent, and 맛있어 is [마시써] or [마디써].

When a 하다 adjective has a final ㄱ, ㄷ or ㅂ right before 하, that consonant and the ㅎ join into one aspirated sound. 행복하다 gives 행복해, spoken [행보캐]. Revised Romanization shows this aspiration in a predicate: haengbokae. A noun such as 행복 keeps its h: haengbok.

• 맛있어 보여요. (masisseo boyeoyo.) [마시써 보여요] = "It looks delicious."
• 행복해 보여요. (haengbokae boyeoyo.) [행보캐 보여요] = "You look happy."

Write the plain spelling and say the changed sound. Irregular stems and nouns need their own short notes, because learners expect trouble with them.

Irregular Stems and Nouns

Irregular adjectives change in the 아/어 form the same way they change in the polite present tense.

• ㅡ-stems: the ㅡ drops: 예쁘다 becomes 예뻐 보여요, 바쁘다 becomes 바빠 보여요, 슬프다 becomes 슬퍼 보여요, and 아프다 becomes 아파 보여요.
• ㅂ-irregular: the ㅂ changes to 우: 춥다 becomes 추워 보여요, 어렵다 becomes 어려워 보여요, and 쉽다 becomes 쉬워 보여요.
• 르-irregular: 르 doubles to ㄹㄹ: 빠르다 becomes 빨라 보여요.
• ㄹ-stems: the ㄹ stays: 길다 becomes 길어 보여요, and 멀다 becomes 멀어 보여요.
• ㅎ adjectives: 그렇다 becomes 그래 보여요, and 빨갛다 becomes 빨개 보여요.

Nouns cannot take 아/어 directly. To say that a person looks like a certain kind of person, use a noun pattern instead: 학생처럼 보여요 ("You look like a student"), 학생으로 보여요 ("You seem to be a student") or 대학생 같아 보여요 ("You look like a university student"). With the formation clear, one full sentence can be built step by step.

Worked Example: Building a Sentence with -아/어 보이다

-아/어 보이다 grammar turns a plain description into a statement about appearance. Follow the steps with the sentence "Your mood is good today."

1. Start with the plain sentence. 오늘 기분이 좋아요. (oneul gibuni joayo.) = "Your mood is good today." The predicate is 좋아요.
2. Find the dictionary form. 좋아요 comes from 좋다 (to be good). It is an adjective.
3. Make the 아/어 form. The polite form 좋아요 loses 요: 좋아.
4. Add 보이다 as a new word. 좋아 + 보이다 = 좋아 보이다.
5. Put it in the polite style. 보이다 becomes 보여요: 오늘 기분이 좋아 보여요. (oneul gibuni joa boyeoyo.) [오늘 기부니 조아 보여요] = "You look happy today."

You will know it worked when the sentence says how things appear and you can still add "but I'm not sure". The most common slip at this step is writing 보이어요 for the polite form. Always contract it to 보여요. An appearance can be described in more than one tense, and each form has limits.

Which Tenses and Sentence Types Work with -아/어 보이다?

-아/어 보이다 works in the present, the past and the future, in statements and questions, with adjectives. The tense marker goes on 보이다, never on the adjective. It does not work in commands or suggestions.

The past form describes how something looked: 어제는 많이 바빠 보였어요. The future form describes how something will look in a condition: 이 옷을 입으면 어려 보일 거예요 ("You will look younger if you wear this"). A question uses the same shape with a rising tone: 제가 피곤해 보여요? ("Do I look tired?")

• 이 옷을 입으면 어려 보여요. (i oseul ibeumyeon eoryeo boyeoyo.) [이 오슬 이브면 어려 보여요] = "You look young in this outfit."
• 안 좋아 보여요. (an joa boyeoyo.) [안 조아 보여요] = "You don't look well."
• 행복해 보이는 사람이에요. (haengbokae boineun saramieyo.) [행보캐 보이는 사라미에요] = "He or she is a person who looks happy."

A statement with -아/어 보이다 usually ends with a falling tone. The honorific form needs -시- on 보이다: 젊어 보이세요. These limits make the closest neighbour, -(으)ㄴ/는 것 같다, the most useful comparison.

How Is -아/어 보이다 Different from -(으)ㄴ/는 것 같다?

-아/어 보이다 describes what something looks like, while -(으)ㄴ/는 것 같다 gives a guess from any kind of evidence. The first needs something visible and works with adjectives only. The second works with verbs, adjectives and nouns, and the evidence can be anything the speaker has.

Here is one situation with both patterns. You look at a friend's face and say 피곤해 보여요 ("You look tired"). You hear a friend's voice on the phone and say 피곤한 것 같아요 ("I think you're tired"). The second works because the evidence is the sound, and -아/어 보이다 would be strange for a voice. For an action, only the second pattern works: 비가 오는 것 같아요. The full lesson is -(으)ㄴ/는 것 같다, and for guesses about the future, see -(으)ㄹ 것 같다. These contrasts lead to the smaller variations of the pattern.

Variations and Edge Cases of -아/어 보이다

-아/어 보이다 has four common variations: a compliment, a homograph, a noun modifier and a spelling choice. Each one is short, and each appears in real conversation.

• Compliments and small talk. Koreans often comment on appearance: 어려 보이세요 ("You look young") and 건강해 보여요 ("You look healthy"). These are polite remarks, not exact ages.
• Homograph 보이다. 보이다 also means "be visible": 산이 보여요 ("I can see the mountain"). The polite form is also 보여요. The difference is that the visible meaning follows a noun and the "looks" meaning follows an 아/어 form.
• Not 보다. 보다 ("see, watch, try") is a different verb. 먹어 봐요 means "Try eating it", and 맛있어 보여요 means "It looks tasty". 봐요 and 보여요 are not interchangeable.
• Spacing. Standard spelling writes the 아/어 form and 보이다 as two words: 좋아 보여요. You will often see them joined (좋아보여요) online, and that spelling is tolerated, but the spaced version is the safe form.

A modifier form lets you describe a noun: 맛있어 보이는 음식 ("food that looks delicious"). The form 보이는 is the present modifier of 보이다.

This lesson covers adjectives in daily conversation, not the full range of Korean guessing patterns. Patterns such as -(으)ㄴ/는 모양이다 and -나 보다 belong to their own lessons. The mistakes below show where the boundary with other patterns causes real errors.

What Mistakes Do Learners Make with -아/어 보이다?

Learners most often get the word class, the verb 보다 or the form of the adjective wrong. Four mistakes appear again and again.

1. Using it with an action verb. Learners often assume that 보이다 works like English "look" with any word. Actually the pattern needs an adjective. 비가 와 보여요 is wrong. Say 비가 오는 것 같아요 ("I think it is raining"), because -(으)ㄴ/는 것 같다 handles verbs.
2. Mixing up 보여요 and 봐요. 맛있어 봐요 is not a normal sentence. For "It looks tasty", say 맛있어 보여요.
3. Forgetting the 아/어 form. 좋 보여요 and 피곤하 보여요 are wrong. The adjective must be in its 아/어 form first: 좋아 보여요 and 피곤해 보여요.
4. Putting the tense on the adjective. 피곤했어 보여요 is wrong for "You looked tired". Put the tense on 보이다: 피곤해 보였어요.

A quick check for any sentence: Is the word before 보이다 an adjective in its 아/어 form? Is the tense on 보이다? Is the impression visual? If all three answers are yes, the sentence is sound.

The practice set below tests these points directly.

Practice and Answers

Try the four items before you read the answer key. Cover the answers with your hand.

1. Choose the form. You look at a friend's tired face. Say: 많이 ___. (피곤해 보여요 / 피곤하 보여요)
2. Fix the error. A learner says 비가 와 보여요 for "It seems to be raining." Correct it.
3. Translate. "That book looks difficult." Use 어렵다 and -아/어 보이다.
4. Write your own. Write one sentence about how a person or a dish looks. Then change it to the past.

Answer key

1. 피곤해 보여요. The adjective takes its 아/어 form (피곤해) before 보여요.
2. 비가 오는 것 같아요. -아/어 보이다 needs an adjective, and 오다 is an action verb.
3. 그 책은 어려워 보여요. (geu chaegeun eoryeowo boyeoyo.) [그 채근 어려워 보여요] = "That book looks difficult." 어렵다 is ㅂ-irregular, so the 아/어 form is 어려워.
4. Answers vary. Check that the adjective is in its 아/어 form and that the past tense is on 보이다. An example: 이 케이크 맛있어 보여요 becomes 이 케이크 맛있어 보였어요 ("This cake looked delicious").

If you can complete items 1 to 3 without the key, you can use the pattern in conversation. The lesson now hands off to related patterns.

What Should You Learn Next after -아/어 보이다 Grammar?

After -아/어 보이다 grammar, learn the general guessing pattern, then the future guesses. This lesson teaches appearance with adjectives and does not cover guesses about verbs, future guesses or indirect evidence in depth. Those live on their own pages.

1. Start with -(으)ㄴ/는 것 같다, which gives a guess from any evidence and works with verbs.
2. Continue with -(으)ㄹ 것 같다, which guesses about the future, and with the future forms future guess -겠- and future tense -(으)ㄹ 거예요.
3. Return to Guessing and Conjecture to see every pattern in this set, or to the Beginner Grammar list for other A2 patterns.

With these steps, -아/어 보이다 becomes automatic: take the adjective's 아/어 form, add 보이다 as a new word, and keep it for how things look.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does -아/어 보이다 mean in one sentence?

-아/어 보이다 means "looks" or "seems": the speaker describes the impression an adjective gives from outside. 오늘 기분이 좋아 보여요 means "You look happy today," and 그 옷이 비싸 보여요 means "That outfit looks expensive." The impression comes from what the speaker sees, not from a fact the speaker knows.

How do I attach -아/어 보이다 to a verb or adjective?

Take the adjective and make its 아/어 form, then add 보이다 as a separate word. 좋다 becomes 좋아 보이다, 피곤하다 becomes 피곤해 보이다, 예쁘다 becomes 예뻐 보이다, and 춥다 becomes 추워 보이다. It works with adjectives only. For an action verb, use -(으)ㄴ/는 것 같다 instead.

Can -아/어 보이다 be used in the past tense?

Yes. Change 보이다 to its past form: 피곤해 보였어요 means "You looked tired." The past marker sits on 보이다, not on the adjective, so 피곤했어 보여요 is wrong. The pattern also works in the future: 이 옷을 입으면 어려 보일 거예요 means "If you wear this, you will look younger."

Is -아/어 보이다 used in speech or only in writing?

Both. In speech, people say 피곤해 보여요 (polite) and 피곤해 보여 (casual). In writing, descriptions of people and objects often use 보인다 or 보이는. The meaning stays the same, and only the ending changes with the speech level. It is common in compliments and in small talk.

What is the most common mistake with -아/어 보이다?

The most common mistake is using it with an action verb. 비가 와 보여요 is wrong; say 비가 오는 것 같아요. A second mistake is confusing 보여요 ("looks") with 봐요 ("see, watch, try"): 맛있어 보여요 means "It looks tasty," while 맛있어 봐요 is not a normal sentence.